Guitar Glossary

Current revision

Guitar Glossary

A list of guitar terminology - the essential reference for guitar students!

A

Alternate Picking: Continuously alternating between downstrokes and upstrokes whilst picking. So you are picking Up-Down-Up-Down-Up etc.

B

Barre Chord: A chord where one finger is "barred" across all of the strings like a human capo while the other fingers make the chord.

C

Capo: A clip on device that frets the strings at any place so you can use open string chord shapes higher up the fretboard.

D

Downstroke: Hitting the string with the pick moving downwards.

Down-picking: Picking using just downstrokes.

E

F

Fret: Officially it refers to the bars on the fretboard, though it is often used to mean the bit of fretboard in between bars.

G

H

Hammer-on: Picking a note then "hammering on" another finger on to a note higher up on the same string.

I

J

K

L

Legato: Technically means "played smoothly" but is commonly used to mean "played with hammer-ons and pull-offs".

M

N

O

P

Pull-Off: Picking a note then "pulling off" your finger on to another finger that is lower down on the same string.

Q

R

S

Slide: To run a left hand finger up or down a string.

Sweep Picking: A type of picking where you "sweep" the pick through the strings, So if you where playing a 5 string arpeggion your picking would go: Down-Down-Down-Down-Up-Up-Up-Up etc.

T

U

Upstroke: Hitting the string with the pick moving up.

V

Vibrato: A technique where you add expressiveness to the note by quickly bending it back and forth.

W

Whammy Bar: A bar attached to the bridge of a guitar that changes the pitch of the string by altering the tension.

X

Y

Z